Cebu Pacific Air on Friday said it raised the frequency and capacity of its flights to Cebu, Davao and Hong Kong, upgrading the aircraft from an Airbus A320 to an A330.
The airliine, owned by the Gokongwei Group, said it would increase frequency of its Manila-Hong Kong route by 50 percent, resulting in thrice-a-day flights, or a total of 21 flights a week, from the current twice-a-day starting July 4.
The airline will also use the A330s to fly between Manila and Cebu three times daily, or 21 times a week; while the Davao hub will get a boost with two additional daily flights to and from Manila, bringing the frequency to four times daily, or 28 weekly flights.
The upgrade from an 180-seater A320 to a 436-seater A330 makes available an additional 256 seats for each flight, or 59 percent more capacity.
“Using larger aircraft will make flying more efficient, freeing up some aircraft and slots at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. This will also enable us to increase capacity and frequency for other routes moving forward,” Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs JR Mantaring said.
The brand-new ATR 72-600 aircraft, meanwhile, will form part of the existing ATR fleet of wholly-owned subsidiary Cebgo.
The latter recently announced five new domestic routes set to start operations in July, namely Cebu to Masbate, Cagayan de Oro to Zamboanga, Davao to Dumaguete and Tacloban, and Zamboanga to Cotabato.
CEB boasts of one of the youngest fleets in the world, with an average aircraft age of 4.99 years.
The carrier’s now 61-strong fleet is comprised of four Airbus A319, 36 Airbus A320, eight Airbus A330, eight ATR 72-500, and five ATR 72-600 aircraft.
Between 2017 and 2021, CEB expects delivery of 32 Airbus A321neo, and 11 ATR 72-600 aircraft.
The airline currently offers flights to 37 domestic and 26 international destinations, operating over 100 routes spanning across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the US.